Sailing Calista25 April 2024 – 27 April 2024
Leaving Gocek, we continued on our journey inland to Pamukkale. It was going to be about five hours and we wanted to take a leisurely drive. The trip was very interesting travelling through forest areas and on parts of newly finished roads.
Pamukkale is a town in western Turkey known for the mineral rich thermal waters flowing down white travertine terraces on a nearby hillside.
Hotel Sahine where we were staying, was located a short distance from the travertines and in a great spot.
After settling into our room we went out for a walk across the road to the lake at the bottom of the travertines.
There were heaps of geese, even a young baby which the parents were very protective of and would hiss whenever anybody got too close.
We had dinner at “Teras” restaurant, with our table overlooking the travertines. While we were eating our meal, we counted at least 12 coaches go by. Just on dusk the skies were ablaze in gorgeous pink and red hues.
The next morning around 5.40am we were woken up to the deafening sound of fans roaring away. We looked out the window to see what was happening, and saw dozens of hot air balloons inflating in the fields nearby.
We quickly got dressed and walked to where the balloons were, and watched them inflate and drift across towards the travetines.
After seeing all the hot air balloons lift off we went back to our hotel and collected the car, then drove up to the very top gate (South Gate) for 7.00am. There was a chap on the gate and we paid 1 euro to enter into the parking lot. I quickly changed into my white cargo pants and better shoes, then we wandered over to the ticket booth to pay the entry fee.
Once we entered the travertines there were still a few hot air balloons flying. We were very fortunate with the weather, the skies were still a little hazy but they were more clear blue than previous days. It was quite high up and the views down over the distant countryside were stunning.
There were only about a dozen people around so it was enjoyable taking our time and enjoying the travetines. It was forbidden to wear shoes and we were only able to walk around in barefeet. It was a matter of treading carefully so as not to slip.
The travertines have been created over time by hot springs and streams depositing cabonate minerals at various levels down the hillside. Thermal water flowing into the same place in large amounts causes algae so in order to prevent the pollution and to harden the precipitate, the travertine area must be dried for certain periods of time.
The travertines have water flowing in different areas throughout the year.
Travertines are not always in contact with water. Thermal water is given to the travertines in a controlled manner within a certain programme.
Paul was resting and soaking his calf muscle in the warm thermal waters that were flowing and being diverted in a controlled cravass.
Several hot air balloons made it into the travertine area and slowly rose up the terraced face..
After a couple of hours enjoying the travertines we headed back down to the hotel in time for some breakfast.
The following morning some of the hot air balloons inflated in a field a little further away but they still managed to fly near the travertines and we watched them from our hotel.
As we had a long drive back to Istanbul, we decided to check out early and got on the road by 7.15am and followed some of the hot air balloons as they headed out into the countryside in search of a landing spot.
Some of the hot air balloons had a passenger swap and they took off again.
Driving along we encountered a large display of poppies growing along the side of the road.
Leaving Pamukkale we drove back up to Istanbul passing numerous areas of wine country.
We checked back into the Movenpick hotel for the night and again went up to Arca restaurant for dinner.
We enjoyed several tapa dishes before sharing a couple of Turkish kababs.
We had a lovely view from the hotel room.
After breakfast we checked out and at the concierge desk we requested our car. For awhile there was some confusion with the keys and after some frantic searching on their part, they located the car keys in another car. Phew, everyone including us were relieved.
We dropped the rental car off at Sixt and took the elevator up to Departures where we checked in our bags. Once through Immigration we were able to relax and passed the 3-4 hours away with a coffee and people watching before boarding our flight to Athens.
On arrival into Athens we approached the Immigration Counter waiting to see his reaction when we s scanned our passports. Sure enough, the Immigration chap picked up that we owed a fine for overstaying our Schengen time last season. He said we owed a fine, and we acknowledged the fact and that we were not happy but willing to pay this fine. The officer escourted around to the Office of the Airport Police where he had a brief chat with another Officer and requested we take a seat. After about 20 minutes of waiting we were called into the office and said we were good to go once we paid the fine. We handed over 2400.00 euro cash and in exchange we got a receipt. Ouch, that hurt. The Officer was all smiles, and then we were sent on our way to the baggage reclaim area, where we collected our bags
One good thing with waiting around to pay the fine, when we arrived at the baggage carousel our bags were the only ones still going around and around. We collected our bags and proceeded through the exit where we were met with our taxi driver who was driving us to Kilada.
